This application claims the benefit of a Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-123381 filed Apr. 19, 2004, in the Japanese Patent Office, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to diagnosis methods, power supply control devices, electronic apparatuses, battery packs and computer-readable storage media, and more particularly to a diagnosis method for diagnosing an electronic apparatus such as a lap-top (or portable) personal computer, a power supply control device and an electronic apparatus which employ such a diagnosis method, a battery pack that is used by such a diagnosis method, and a computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for causing a computer to carry out a diagnosis by such a diagnosis method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A program called Basic Input Output System (BIOS) which carries out a boot process of personal computers is embedded with a simple self-diagnosis function called Power On Self Test (POST). For example, the POST sends an 8-bit code corresponding to an initial setting or each stage of an initial diagnosis to an address 80h (80 in hexadecimal, 128 in decimal).
Extension slots are provided in desk-top personal computers, and when an extension card that displays data by decoding the address 80h is inserted into the extension slot, the extension card acts as an indicator that is used for the debugging. The indicator of the extension card is usable when a CPU and a BIOS-ROM that stores the BIOS are operating within the personal computer. For example, when the personal computer is started in a state where a main memory such as a RAM has failed, information such as a message indicating a memory error is indicated on the indicator of the extension card. Hence, in a case where a display to be made on a main display part of the personal computer is not displayed even when the power supply of the personal computer is turned ON, for example, it is possible to investigate the location of the failure within the personal computer based on the information that is indicated on the indicator of the extension card. A diagnosis which includes investigating the location of the failure within the personal computer is carried out when shipping the personal computer, and attending to the maintenance, checking or repair of the personal computer.
In a state where the main display part such as a CRT and/or an LCD of the personal computer is usable, it is unnecessary to use the indicator of the extension card. However, the performance of the main display part has dramatically improved in recent years, and highly complex processes are required even when only carrying out an initializing process. Furthermore, the main display part and a control circuit of the recent personal computer have become replaceable. For this reason, there is still a need for the indicator of the extension card.
On the other hand, lap-top personal computers are normally not provided with an extension slot as in the case of the desk-top personal computer described above. Consequently, in a case where the location of the failure within the lap-top personal computer cannot be investigated unless an indicator for debugging use is connected thereto, it becomes necessary to open a housing (or casing) of the lap-top personal computer and make the necessary connections. As a result, troublesome operations, such as removing screws, are required in order to carry out the diagnosis. Moreover, in the case of the lap-top personal computer having a housing which is uneasily opened, the operations that are required to carry out the diagnosis become even more complex and troublesome, and furthermore, the housing may be damaged when opening the housing.
It is conceivable to provide an extension slot in lap-top personal computers, similarly to the desk-top personal computers. However, since there are demands to reduce the size of the lap-top personal computers, there is a limit to the space within the lap-top personal computer that may be used to provide the extension slot. In addition, the cost of the lap-top personal computers will increase if the extension slot having a predetermined number of terminals were to be provided in the lap-top personal computers. Therefore, it is not practical to provide the extension slot in the lap-top personal computers. Although lap-top personal computers provided with a simplified extension slot having a small number of terminals have been proposed, it is still necessary to secure a space to provide the simplified extension slot, and further, there is a limit to the diagnosis performance that may be achieved if the number of terminals of the simplified extension slot is limited.
Some portable electronic apparatuses such as the lap-top personal computers can use a secondary, battery such as a battery pack, as a power supply. For example, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-299116 proposes a charging process depending on the kind of secondary battery used. For example, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-169629 proposes an identification of the type of secondary battery. In addition, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-223527 proposes a judgement to determine whether or not the battery pack conforms to the electronic apparatus.
However, in the prior art, the information stored in the memory within the battery pack is used to identify the type of the secondary battery or to identify the power supply voltage. In the prior art, there is no concept of using information stored in the memory within the battery pack to start a diagnosis function of the electronic apparatus.
Therefore, the conventional electronic apparatuses have the following problems.
The conventional portable electronic apparatuses, such as the lap-top personal computers, are normally not provided with an extension slot such as that of the desk-top personal computers. For this reason, in a case where it is impossible to investigate the location of the failure within the lap-top personal computer unless a indicator for debugging use is connected to the lap-top personal computer, it becomes necessary to open the housing (or casing) of the lap-top personal computer and make the necessary connections. As a result, the troublesome operations, such as removing the screws, are required in order to carry out the diagnosis. Moreover, in the case of the lap-top personal computer having the housing which is uneasily opened, the operations that are required to carry out the diagnosis become even more complex and troublesome, and furthermore, the housing may be damaged when opening the housing.
Although it is conceivable to provide the extension slot in the lap-top personal computers, similarly to the desk-top personal computers, since there are demands to reduce the size of the lap-top personal computers, there is a limit to the space within the lap-top personal computer that may be used to provide the extension slot. In addition, the cost of the lap-top personal computers will increase if the extension slot having a predetermined number of terminals were to be provided in the lap-top personal computers. Therefore, it is not practical to provide the extension slot in the lap-top personal computers. Although the lap-top personal computers provided with a simplified extension slot having a small number of terminals have been proposed, it is still necessary to secure the space to provide the simplified extension slot, and further, there is a limit to the diagnosis performance that may be achieved if the number of terminals of the simplified extension slot is limited.